Ariana Grande Has Been a Star Since She Was 8 Years Old + Here’s the Video Proof

Ariana Grande may have gotten her start on Victorious, but her breakthrough role arguably came much earlier, when she was just an 8-year-old musical buff making her way around the local theater circuit.

As a child, the now-25-year-old singer performed with the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater in her hometown of Boca Raton, Florida. And, being the true star she is, her first role was as the lead (!!) character in Annie. You can see her singing "Maybe" and "Tomorrow" and telling Miss Hannigan to step the hell off in the video below. She was also wearing a red, curly-haired wig — the character's signature 'do —which now feels like some eerie foreshadowing for Cat Valentine's fiery locks.

"It's really fun and I made a huge amount of more friends and it's really just fun," says a young Grande after the show when asked how she felt about the experience.

She also shared some thoughts about the audition process, saying she was more excited than scared.

"[When the director called to say I got the part], I was just like, 'Who did I get?' And he was like, 'Annie.' And I was like [screams]. I was celebrating. I was just so happy.'"